LL-L "Language varieties" 2003.01.17 (06) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 17.JAN.2003 (06) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
 L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
 S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Kevin McAuliff <kevin_mcauliff at yahoo.com>
Subject: Language Varieties
A personal perspective on Afrikaans: When I was young, I spoke pretty good
Platt. I had a number of Dutch friends, but understood them only with
difficulty. Part of the reason, admittedly, was the huge number of calques
used by educated speakers.

Back in the early 80's, our neighborhood had a block party and invited the
world at large. I caught sight of a particular stranger, and we walked up to
each other out of curiousity and amazement. I am five feet tall, and he was
seven feet tall!  As soon as we had come up to each other, he let loose in a
language I had never heard, and ended by asking in the same language if I
had understood him. I told him in Platt that I did understand, but did not
know what his language was. I had never before heard Afrikaans, nor have I
heard it since. (North Georgia is not a likely venue for exotics.) We hung
around talking for several hours with little difficulty.

The point is that while I had trouble with Dutch, Afrikaans was pretty
comprehensible from a Platt perspective. (Of course, given the party, I
probably could have understood both Athabascan and Maori by the end of the
evening.)

Kevin McAuliff


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